


little lion man

by wormkiss



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Hospitals, Insecure Kyan Reki, Introspection, Kyan Reki Needs a Hug, Kyan Reki is a Ray of Sunshine, Soft Hasegawa Langa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:54:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wormkiss/pseuds/wormkiss
Summary: His mom had always told him he was like a big ball of light, like the sun drifting across bright blue skies draping even the dullest situations in gold.Reki really didn’t feel like the sun.—or, a closer look into Reki’s physical and mental state after his beef with ADAM
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki
Comments: 10
Kudos: 166





	1. Chapter 1

Reki had always done his best to be brave, to be strong, to be bold. He liked to think that he at least succeeded in those categories most days with all the broad smiles dancing across his face and how he always managed to bounce back up even with bruised knees and skinned hands. Those were things he’s always been good at even before his skating days, pushing past his own issues to insure those around him were happy. Of course he had his moments, times when his smile would falter when no one was looking and he’d have to catch himself before anyone noticed but the grin would always reappear shortly after. His mom had always told him he was like a big ball of light, like the sun drifting across bright blue skies draping even the dullest situations in gold.

But right now, Reki really didn’t feel like the sun. He didn’t feel vibrant or golden like his mother would describe to him, all he felt was his heart hammering against his chest and his arm being crushed in the death grip ADAM currently had him locked in as his board was dragged around a sharp turn. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting when going up against the enigma that was the creator of S but being pulled into this sort of dance of death wasn’t it. He thought he would have been able to dodge the moves Cherry and Joe had mentioned prior to the beef, even possibly maintain the lead he’d been given due to his opponents arrogance with the trick Miya had taught him. But it was almost comical how fast the man had been able to catch up to him and pull him in. 

His breathing was heavy as they approached the next turn, trying to figure out the best way to get his board back under his own feet, eyes blown wide as ADAM took advantage of his already precarious balance. He was pushed back before he even knew what was happening, his head only inches away from the path beneath them. The only thing keeping him on the board was the other man's vice grip on his wrist, which he was sure would end up leaving a mark at this point. 

It was more than obvious now that he was just being toyed with, that ADAM just saw this as some sort of game, playing with his food until the main course arrived. But this was becoming all too real to Reki. He could feel burning hot tendrils of fear clawing into his chest, burying their talons deep within him as sparks stung at his cheek and ADAM loomed over him so close that he could feel his breath against his face and smell the cigarette smoke wafting from his mouth. 

“don’t be closing your eyes”

ADAMS words were spoken so casually that Reki had to do a double take to make sure he wasn’t just hearing things in the heat of the moment. But no, now with his eyes open once more he could see his lips moving accompanied with a wry grin gracing his features. 

“terror is the best spice, take your time and savor it.”

It occurred to Reki then that his life was quite literally in this man's hands. This man who he knew had no interest in him whatsoever and is notorious for being overly violent and cruel to his opponents. It felt like the turn had been going on for eternity, everything moving as if it were underwater. Then all at once he was being hauled back up against the larger man. Vaguely he could hear chanting echoing throughout the course, ADAM’s name ricocheting amongst the crowds of people and straight into Reki’s veins. He wasn’t going to win this. The idea settled deep into him dread worming its way into the inner workings of his brain. 

He wasn’t going to win this and because of that Langa was going to have to skate against this lunatic too. He was starting to spiral now. Would Langa be as scared as he was right now? If ADAM managed to hurt Langa would it be his fault? His heart felt like it was crawling up his throat. The only reasons he hadn’t wiped out yet was the tight grip ADAM still had on him and his body working purely on instinct keeping him balanced as he sunk deeper into his own mind. 

“we should head into the finale soon”

He’d been so deep in thought that he barely realized ADAM had said anything before the man was finally releasing his hold on Reki’s wrist and pulling up ahead. Reki was brought back to reality, watching his back as he made his way further down the track. all the thoughts in his head were beginning to grow too loud in his head. This guy was on a completely different level than him. It didn’t matter that Reki had been skating since childhood, that he had such a deep understanding of the sport that he could watch you skate once and determine exactly what you’d need in a board, or that he’d been working all week to learn a railslide just for this beef. None of that was of any use to him now when ADAM was already so unreachable. 

He’d actually been excited at the beginning of all this, to skate against ADAM, someone most people weren’t positive actually existed until he decided to show his face again. The man was a living legend and Reki had gotten a chance to skate with him and now what was he doing? Getting wrapped up in his own head? no. He needed to snap out of this, Langa had said earlier that he was doing this because he wanted to and he was right. Reki did want to go up against ADAM, wanted to see what he could do up close and personal, learn a thing or two, and maybe even beat him. He still wants that, he wants to defeat him and make him apologize for the bullshit he was spouting out to Miya. 

He took in a deep breath trying to brush off his nerves. He’s beefed loads of people since he’s started going to S. He knew the track like the back of his hand, he could figure out a way to pull this off. If he accelerated now he could pass ADAM and do the railslide, and maybe that would put some distance between him and the blue haired man. That seemed like a decent enough plan to him so with that thought he leaned forward, shifting his momentum to speed up passing the man ahead of him. He’d only managed to pull off the newly learned trick a few times in the past week, but while it was inconsistent at best he was just going to hope to god he could do it and go from there. 

He was rapidly approaching the next turn so he weaved in closer to the outskirts of the path, maintaining his speed. It was now or never, if he wasn’t able to land it he was going to bust his ass whether it was from losing control of his board or from going too fast around the corner. He held his breath before flipping his board and landing so he was balancing on the side while his trucks were latched onto the outside of the track. A grin erupted onto his face when he managed to keep his balance, and before he’d even realized he was already around the corner, ADAM still a good distance behind him. He could more clearly hear the crowd now too, hearing them cheer as he successfully landed the trick. It was bringing back some of the confidence that he’d lost at the beginning of the race.

Holy shit if he kept going like this he might be able to make it to the wherehouse before ADAM managed to catch up. He felt giddy for a moment, approaching the next turn ready to take the inside once more. The feeling faltered slightly when he realized ADAM catching up once again. Why wasn’t he slowing down to approach the turn? He couldn't be trying to take the inside with him. His thoughts were proven correct as Reki’s lead was eaten up and ADAM mimicked Reki’s previous trick, replacing the railslide with a caspar successfully one upping him. It was fine. Reki just needed to keep going and make sure the gap didn’t get too large again. 

He watched closely as the path sloped downward his speed starting to increase again as he went downhill. Ahead of him he could hear the crowd roaring in excitement once more. He couldn’t tell what his opponent was doing but in the back of his mind couldn't help but remember the move Joe and Cherry had mentioned. He shouldn’t be able to actually charge straight uphill, he wouldn’t have enough momentum to maintain the speed, it shouldn’t be possible.

Reki was ready to dismiss the idea when a figure amongst the fog took form in his line of sight. Good he was catching up again, he squinted at what he thought to be ADAM’s back before coming to the conclusion that he might be going too fast. ADAM’s figure was rapidly closing in and he could make everything out better now, discovering that he wasn’t actually staring at the man’s back or approaching quickly from behind but instead ADAM was facing him head on and charging directly towards him. 

His eyes widened as the man continued at him, if they kept going like this they were going to crash. They were both going too fast, shit he needed to slow down before they collided. In his panic he could hear someone screaming. Was that him? In the heat of the moment he pressed too hard on the back of his board in a desperate attempt to break, his heart froze as he felt the board slip out from under him. 

His back hit the ground hard, head slamming back, and the wind getting knocked out of him. After the initial fall, he was lurched forward, sent sprawling past ADAM and part way down the hill. He finally came to a stop slumped against the rocks surrounding the track. Vaguely he could hear someone calling his name but it seemed muffled and far away, eventually drowning out as his eyes fell shut.


	2. Chapter 2

Reki wasn’t sure how long he’d been out for. What he did know though was that his body felt like it was on fire. Everything seemed jumbled, pain bleeding into every corner of his being. Was this what dying felt like? Wait he wasn’t dead was he? No, death was supposed to be peaceful and as more of his senses started coming back he could start to make out voices coming from above him and they definitely didn’t sound peaceful. 

“Stupid old man, if someone’s hurt you call an ambulance, it’s common knowledge.”

“oh yeah because calling an ambulance to the illegal skate competition is such a good idea.”

“It’s better than slime like you driving him to the hospital!”

A small groan made its way past Reki’s lips. His brain was still lagging on exactly what had happened all the yelling was making the pain in his head ten times sharper. 

“Reki are you awake?” 

this voice was coming from somewhere much closer, it was softer too which he appreciated. Reki worked to crack open his eyes, wanting to formally look at the person talking, but almost immediately one arm, that hurt decidedly less, reached up to shield his vision from the stabbing brightness. It took him another few moments to remove his face from the crook of his elbow and let his eyes adjust before his gaze was met with brilliant blue. 

At the sight of his best friend staring back down at him, everything came rushing back. S, ADAM, the love hug, he was starting to remember everything now. His eyes tore away from Langa for a moment trying to properly figure out what was going on and how long he’d been out for. He inspected his surroundings carefully, he was still on the S track, that much was obvious with the dirt underneath him and the bright streetlights that illuminated the course glaring down at him. Miya and Shadow seemed to be the ones responsible for the yelling, he couldn’t be sure how long they’d been going at it for, or even when they’d arrived. ADAM was nowhere in sight. Did that mean he lost? Reki looked back up to Langa, sucking in a sharp breath. 

“Langa, i’m so sorry” was the first thing out of his mouth. 

“what for?” 

“I lost- I- now you have to skate ADAM” 

Reki felt sick to his stomach, and he couldn’t tell if it was from the way his head was spinning or the thought of Langa having to beef with the older man. 

“you don’t have to apologize for that, just focus on staying awake for now okay?” 

Langa’s voice was so calming that Reki didn’t have it in him to argue. He nodded in agreement, doing his best to blink away the tiredness weighing down his eyelids. Now that he was more coherent, he could better pinpoint the specific aches and pains littering his body. His one arm felt like someone had taken a hammer to the limb and soreness was already settling in his tailbone and neck. A warm liquid was dripping it’s way down his forehead lazily, and the more aware he was becoming the more it was starting to annoy him. Without thinking he lifted his good arm back up to his face to try and scrub the liquid off before another hand grabbed his own, stopping him in his tracks. 

“don’t do that you’re going to smear blood everywhere.” 

Blood? had he really hit his head that bad? He let his hand go limp in Langa’s hold, figuring the boy probably knew more in this moment. 

“Here let me,” he added. 

He moved closer, pulling at the edge of the white button up he’d been wearing to dab off the blood on Reki’s face. The gesture was so tender, so soft that it had taken the red head slightly off guard. Inadvertently he held his breath, not wanting to break the moment. 

“Thank you” Reki murmured to which Langa just nodded and smiled back at him. 

Their small conversation must have caught the attention of the others. The yelling had cut short and almost immediately after quiet settled over the small group a green and purple cat hood butted into his vision. 

“You back with us kid?” A gruffer voice came from behind Miya as Shadow came to join the other two besides Reki. 

“Yeah, yeah i’m with you” he confirmed, wincing at the way his words slurred together. 

“You sound drunk” Miya commented, only to receive a small slap on the shoulder from the older man he’d previously been arguing with. 

“you think you can stand? we gotta get you to a hospital.”

“I think so, just give me a hand?” Reki replied, directing his gaze back to Langa reaching a hand out for the blue haired boy to pull him up. 

Langa got up first, dusting off his pants before grabbing Reki’s hand to get him on his feet. the redhead had to grab onto Langas shoulder to keep himself from ending up right back on the ground. The sudden change of position was making everything spin and slant in all the wrong ways. At some point during the bout of vertigo Langa wrapped his arm around Reki’s waist to keep him steady. He had to suck in a few breaths through clenched teeth to quell the rising nausea but eventually he nodded, signaling to Langa that he could keep going. 

“Are you sure?” the snowboarder asked, looking rightfully concerned. He just nodded again with gritting teeth. 

Reki could tell just by the other boy's face that he probably looked bad. He could feel more blood dripping down his face already and his headband felt damp and warm against his forehead, indicating that he’d probably bled through the fabric too. That wasn’t even mentioning the bum arm hanging limply at his side, it was the same one he’d broken during his beef with Shadow too which was a little worrying. Having the same arm injured twice in such a short period of time couldn’t be good but for now he wasn’t going to worry about that. 

Currently he needed to be focusing on closing the short distance between where he was standing and Shadows car. Off handedly, he was kind of honored that the man was willing to risk his image driving the bubblegum pink car straight through S just to pick him up. With that thought he took a cautionary step forward, sending a small smile back up to Langa. 

“See, nothing to freak out about, I've had worse wipeouts anyways,” Reki said, trying to quell the others' concern. 

He was lying through his teeth though. As long as he’d been skateboarding he’d never fallen so bad that he’d blacked out. Yeah he’d gotten concussions and broken arms before but never so bad that he could barely stand without wanting to puke or worry about how his arm would heal because he’d already broken the same one only a month or two prior. He was scared, more so than he had been during the actual race. But the difference now was that he wasn’t the only one scared anymore, so he’d be damned if he didn’t put on a brave face if only to alleviate the others' worry a little. 

He watches Langa sigh in resignation, shifting his hold slightly so he could use his free hand to open the car door and gently slide Reki in. 

“Alright, alright. Just tell me if anything starts to hurt worse okay?” and with that Langa was going around the other side to slip into the vehicle too. 

Shadow and Miya followed suit after a few moments, Miya carrying Reki’s board under one arm. As soon as everyone confirmed that they were buckled in and ready to go Shadow wasted no time putting his car into drive and making his way out of Crazy Rock. The drive was mostly silent, Shadow refused to let Miya even touch the radio and despite wanting to put the group more at ease Reki’s head was still killing him and he really didn’t think he had the mental capacity to utter more than a few words at a time. Luckily the hospital wasn’t too far though so once they got back into town it was only around a five minute drive. Reki didn’t do much in that time, staring with heavy lidded eyes out the window, trying to tune out the throbbing of his body until they made it to their destination. 

fortunately, due to the late hour, the waiting room was essentially empty allowing for Reki to be taken back almost immediately. The actual appointment took much longer to Reki’s displeasure. The nurse determined immediately that his head would definitely need stitches and that he’d need to get an X-ray for his arm and a CT scan for his head. He couldn’t tell how long all of this took, minutes were blending together only highlighted by the questions being asked of him and the various tests and scans he had to undergo. 

By the time he was being released it was well past one AM. The dizziness and nausea were still as persistent as ever and all the talking and bright fluorescent lights had done nothing to alleviate the pain. All things considered Reki wasn’t really paying attention when he’d exited the office he’d been sitting in. He figured Langa, Shadow, and Miya were waiting in the waiting room so you could understand his surprise when he was met with three pairs of eyes as soon as he rounded the corner, looking for news. Reki chuckled a bit awkwardly tugging at the sling around his neck before speaking. 

“Well good news is my arm was just a fracture this time so it should only take a few weeks to heal up. I had to get stitches for my head and apparently i have a pretty nasty concussion but they said there was no brain damage or anything so i should be fine as long as i take it easy for a while” 

Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief at the statement. Reki felt bad making the three stress so much over him. If he’d just managed to make it through the race then there wouldn’t have been anything to worry about. If he’d just been better they wouldn’t have had to haul his ass to the hospital in the middle of the night because he sucked. 

“is there anything else you need? medicine or anything?” Shadow spoke up. 

The man looked kind of ridiculous, wearing a cloak-like jacket to try and hide his S costume despite the fact that the floor length hooded jacket only really drew more attention to him. 

“Yeah, I got a prescription but I won't be able to pick that up until tomorrow since the pharmacy’s closed. they also said something about waking up every few hours to monitor symptoms or something, but I’ll just set alarms or somethin”

The doctor did specify that he should have someone with him at least for tonight just to make sure his symptoms don’t worsen, but Reki really didn’t want to drag this out more than he had to. 

“Kid, ‘monitoring symptoms’ isn’t something you can just do yourself”

“sure it is, i’m not even feeling that bad anymore I’ll be fine” 

Shadow settled him with an unimpressed look which Reki pointedly ignored to the man's displeasure. he grumbled out something along the lines of “whatever don’t come to me the next time you need a ride to the hospital” before crossing his arms across his chest. It was then Langa chose to speak up. 

“Reki, I could help you if you want, i’m sure my mom won’t mind if i sleep over” 

“It’s fine, really. I don’t want to make you stay up the rest of the night for my sake.” 

“it’s an S night, I'd probably be up anyways. If you actually feel bad just make it up to me by tuning up my board or something”

Reki worried his bottom lip between his teeth debating the idea with himself. He guessed that Langa was making a good point. It wasn’t abnormal for them to have sleepovers on nights like tonight anyways where they’d stay up all night after S and goof around. He sighed heavily, any ounce of protest left in him leaving his body. He just couldn’t say no to Langa. 

“Alright fine. c'mon let’s head out then”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey baes if u’ve read this far tysm i luv you - also i don’t really post my writing very often so if you have constructive criticism or anything please feel free to tell me i’d love to hear it🙏🏼🙏🏼


	3. Chapter 3

Sneaking back into his room was surprisingly easy for Reki once Shadow had dropped him and langa off. The act had become habitual since he’d started going to S, make his way around the back of his house and use the very conveniently placed skate ramp to pull himself up and through the open window. Langa was rather accustomed to the routine as well now, after many nights of either saying goodbye to Reki before parting ways or climbing through the window after him over the past few months. So the blue haired boy had no issues leading when Reki would stumble or give him a boost when he couldn’t pull himself up with only one arm. 

Despite having protested Langa coming home with him, Reki was glad the other boy had insisted. Something about Langa just managed to put him more at ease whether it be by patiently listening through his most heated rants and overly excited ideas or just knowing the right few words to say to set him back on track. His presence was just calming and he’s almost always able to sooth Reki’s otherwise chaotic mind and this time was no different. 

“If you want I can give you a tune up now, I just need to grab some stuff from out back and- shit!”

He’d been rambling as he managed to shimmy his way through the window. Immediately he moved to dig around his room when his foot connected with the tool box he’d left out before going to S. The fumble made him lose any semblance of balance he had left and he pitched forward with a yelp trying to regain his footing. Langa pulled himself into the room immediately at the commotion, grabbing Reki by the waist before he actually managed to fall. 

“are you alright?” he asked, arm still firm around him. Reki was glad he hadn’t turned on the lights or else the pink tint that had risen to his face would have been stupidly obvious on his cheeks. 

“yeah, yeah i’m alright. thank you” despite the confirmation, they’d yet to part ways, both seeming to silently decide that they needed to stay in that closeness for a few more moments. 

“you don’t have to worry about the tune up right now, you should lay down and try to get some sleep” Langa hummed quietly after a second. 

Reki wanted to argue that he could do it just fine right now, but even at the mention of sleep his body seemed to sag, desperate for rest after everything that had happened. he sighed in resignation and after a small “okay” Langa helped him over to the bed in the corner of the room. Reki toed off his shoes and flopped down immediately, once he’d accepted the fact that he was tired and wanted to sleep he decided that he was too tired to even attempt to get changed. 

“I’ll wake you up every hour or so… good night Reki” It took a few minutes of squirming and maneuvering for reki to get comfortable with his cast but once he finally managed he called out a small 

“good night Langa” and with that he was out like a light.

Reki wasn’t sure when he’d ended up back at Crazy Rock, but in his head it made sense, he was always there wasn’t he so it wasn’t too off putting. There was someone ahead of him, a figure he was having a hard time making out as he continued down the path. Maybe it was Langa trying to improve his time, he thought vaguely. His board felt weird beneath him, like he was trying to skate through molasses but at the same time there was still wind tugging at his hair and bristling against his face. He wondered offhandedly if there was something stuck in his wheel and that was the reason for the resistance his board was giving him. He pondered that for a moment before his attention was pulled back up in front of him again. Something about the figure had changed. Instead of a vague outline he’d been seeing before, he could now easily make out the face speeding towards him with hair just the wrong shade of blue and smile too sharp to hold any sort of softness or comfort. 

Reki’s breathing hitched, he remembered what was happening now he was beefing with ADAM, this was the love hug. He was desperately trying to find a way to escape the move but his board felt foreign to him and everything was moving too fast to find an opening. His only option was to bail right? could he die from wiping out at this speed? Where was Langa? everything was moving too fast, and all he knew was that he was screaming and then he was falling and he was gonna die. 

Everything felt dull as his back slammed against the dirt road then fell forward past the man he was supposed to be racing. As he fell ADAM seemed to dissipate from view, replaced with someone else, mirroring his movements as he hit the ground, once, twice, and a third time. It took him a moment but the view in front of him came into focus again as he laid there. A different shade of blue splayed out in front of him and Reki was met with a pair of lifeless eyes. No this couldn’t be right, Langa wasn’t there, he hadn’t been skating, Reki had been the one to fall right? He knew that, but that didn’t change the fact that his best friend was staring right back at him, eyes unseeing and body completely still. He’s screaming again he thinks and it feels like someone is grabbing at his already battered body. Did Langa fall because of him? Was this his fault? the grip on him felt more prominent now, what did they want from him? his best friend was already dead there was nothing else he had to give. No, no. They wanted him to wake up. Wait, wake up?

In an instant everything was different. The orange hue of the street lights lining the S track was replaced with the dim gray of the first morning light. The same shade of blue was still vibrant in his panicked gaze but the difference now was that he was met with eyes still full of life and emotion. His heart was beating rapidly and his face felt distinctly wet. He tried to take a deep breath in to quell the burning in his chest but it hitched as he sucked in. 

“I- what? what happened” his voice came out stuttered and scratchy, eyes still darting around the room as if scared that this were actually the dream and with one wrong move he’d be waking back up on the side of the road. 

“you were having a nightmare, I think. I accidentally fell asleep after i woke you up the second time, i woke up again and you were screaming, i was worried you were hurt again”

Langa looked pensive as he spoke, letting go of the hold he had on Rekis shoulder to instead perch himself on the edge of the bed. 

“shit, okay i’m sorry i woke you up”

“no, no don’t worry about that, do you want to talk about it?”

It was Reki’s turn to look pensive now. it probably wouldn’t surprise anyone to say that he had an overactive imagination. His mind was always going a mile a minute and it wasn’t any different in his sleep. He has a history of having vivid dreams, usually they’re neither good nor bad just kind of odd. But occasionally he’d get ones so realistic it was hard to differentiate between the real world and the one generated by his mind. He used to get that type a lot more when he was a kid but they’d begun to space out more as the years progressed. He really only got them when something serious happened now. He had a few after his beef with Shadow even, so it made sense that he’d have one after his beef with ADAM too. But this one felt more serious than any of the ones he’d had before, felt more real. 

“No it’s alright, i honestly don’t even really remember what it was about” That was another one of Reki’s patent white lies. For a moment Langa looked at him like he wanted to press further and for a split second the idea crossed his mind that maybe Langa could see right through him and his little lies. But the blue haired boy just sighed shifting his gaze down to the floor. 

“are you sure?” 

“yeah course, you can go back to sleep too if you want. You can probably squeeze a few more hours in before the sun is fully up.” 

Langa stayed quiet for a little while longer before nodding slowly, sliding off the bed and back into the pile of spare blankets he’d probably been residing in while Reki was sleeping. 

“good night reki” The red haired boy watched as Langa shifted for a moment getting comfortable. 

“good night Langa” 

This time though he decided to keep his eyes open and focused on the ceiling, a light headache settling over him as he willed himself not to fall back into a dream realm that seemed to want to see him suffer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for taking so long to get this finished, as penance have a sad reki playlist i made to write to🙏🏼🙏🏼
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2pqy6fsspx8a1RLHFnsPap?si=jELS00XMTbqjxduyeJcspg


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